Agent Majeed Pleads Guilty In Spot-Fixing Hearing

Mohammad Amir and agent Mazhar Majeed appeared at Southwark Crown Court for the first time after restrictions were lifted revealing that Majeed, like Amir, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.

A 20-day long trial by jury convicted Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif on both counts and all four men will face sentencing - and possible jail sentences - when the hearing resumes on Thursday (3rd November).

During the course of the day Majeed claimed that the majority of the money received for carrying out the spot fixing went to Mohammad Asif to keep him onside, and prevent him from joining a separate fixing group within the team.

Legal representatives for the four men argued against a jail sentence being handed to their parties although Asif and Butt face a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars.

All three have already been handed lengthy bans by the International Cricket Counci (ICC) for breaching its anti-corruption code and Butt admitted in court that his cricket career is over.

In the case of Majeed and Amir, the judge is being asked to look favourably on their guilty pleas which were made at a pre-trial hearing in September but not revealed to the court until verdicts were delivered for Asif and Butt.

The court heard how Majeed, 36, was introduced to Pakistan players by his brother, Azhar, while he made the claim during the hearing that another, unnamed, player was also involved in the fixing.

The fixing saw Asif and Amir bowl no balls at pre-arranged moments during the Lord's Test against England in August 2010 and the plot was uncovered in an investigation by the now-defunct News Of The World newspaper.